Blackout

Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.

John 8:12 (NLT)

When we lived in Southern Oregon, our home was in a very rural area. In fact, the closest town was about 20 miles away. While this ruralness lent itself to many wonderful things – beautiful countryside, quiet, forested, wildlife, etc. – it also made our existence very vulnerable to the whims of nature. In particular, because we lived in such a forested area, trees would occasionally fall down and take some power lines with them. This would lead to a black out which would last a few hours to a whole day. Then came the winter storm of 2014.

Nature decided that we needed some ice. So, one day, it sent a huge ice storm, which covered thousands of square miles, in thick snow and ice. The weight of this combination was too much for the forest to bear, and trees literally exploded as they fell to the ground. Powerlines, of course, were pulled down with them. However, it wasn’t just a few. In fact, it was hundreds of miles of powerlines that went down, leaving tens of thousands without power. So, there we sat, in the dark. All of our appliances were electric, so no power meant no microwave, no stove, no oven, no refrigerator, no freezer, no hot water. You get the idea I hope. Flashlights became extremely important so that we could both navigate the darkness inside the house, but also navigate the outside world as we fueled our generator. It’s amazing how much we depend on our artificial lights just to survive.

You know, the world can be a pretty dark place, both literally and figuratively. And, when it comes to navigating not only the physical word, but the spiritual one as well, we have a couple of choices. We can choose to fumble around in the dark, trying our best to rough it, to power through (which never works out when we’re talking about eternity), or we can follow the Light who can see through the darkness of both. In fact, Jesus Himself said, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.” And, His light never goes out.

So today, and every day, don’t try to navigate the darkness alone. Hold onto the Light.